Customer Reviews

Havahart 0745 Live Animal Professional Style One-Door Chimpunk, Squirrel, Rat, and Weasel Trap

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

All summer long we had a daily stream of chipmunks, mice, and birds flowing into the house courtesy of our cats, which brought them in through the dog flap. The chipmunks often took up residence under the refrigerator and one was under there so long that I started feeding it, too. I tried for weeks to catch it with the mouse-sized Havahart trap, but it never worked. I finally realized that the chipmunk was probably so large for that trap that when the door shut it never shut entirely because the chipmunk's body was in the way. I went online to see if there was a bigger trap and I found the chipmunk-sized one. I ordered it and within 30 minutes of getting it and setting it up I heard the "Snap" of the trap. Sure enough, I finally had safely trapped the chipmunk. I delivered him to the arboretum across the street, where I hope he lived happily ever after.

This device works like a charm once you get it tuned. The trigger plate's rod was a bit too long and it took too much force to trigger the trap. After I filed the rod down a bit, a chipmunk's sneeze was enough to spring the trap and I've been able to catch 2 -3 critters a day. I live in a high chimpmunk zone, so I'm ordering another trap.

One other thing: squirrels tend to like the same bait as chipmunks, so I've caught a few of those too. These guys are capable of bending the door lock, so be prepared to have to bend it back (a long screwdriver works) before you can release the squirrel. Also, one chipmunk was smart enought to roll the trap in order to shake the bait loose. A heavy rock or tent stakes solved that problem.

Havahart 0745 Professional Style One Door Cage Trap for Chipmunks and Rodents 16 x 6 x 6.38
We got this trap after a chipmunk somehow made it inside our house. Here's the play-by-play so far:
Day 1: Placed peanut candy (the chipmunks favorite food, apparently) near the front of the trigger plate. Next morning the candy is gone, the trap's door still open and armed. It seems the chipmunk stole the candy from the front of the plate without touching it.
Day 2: Placed peanut candy behind the trigger plate, towards the end of the cage. Next morning the candy has moved a bit, door is shut, no chipmunk inside. Apparently, the chipmunk tried to get at the candy from the outside and triggered the door.
Day 3: Placed the peanut candy at the far end of the trigger plate, such that it can't be reached from outside the cage, or from the front of the trigger plate. In the morning, we find the door is shut, the candy is gone, but NO CHIPMUNK INSIDE?!?! Somehow he either managed to get out after triggering the door or first got the candy and then triggered the door from the outside.

Score so far: Chipmunk 3, us 0. Somewhere in our house there's a tiny rodent sitting on a stash of peanut candy, laughing at us. But we'll keep trying...

Great price and fast shipping! I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when I took the trap out of the box; it seemed a bit flimsy to me. However, after catching my 4th chipmunk this morning, I am a firm believer.

It works very well (with no modifications). Some recommend peanut butter to catch chipmunks, but I have found it isn't necessary. I used about a teaspoon of peanut butter the first time, and the chipmunk got it all over the cage and him/herself. The next three times, I just placed a small pile of premium bird seed (mix of nuts and seeds) and placed the trap on top of it. It worked very well...only taking about 15-20 minutes each time.

Chipmunks appear to be most active between about 8am - 2pm. I recommend placing the trap outside when you wake up in the morning. Also, find a small box to place the trap in while you transport the chipmunk - as they become very nervous when they see you. They calm down when they can't see outside of the cage.

I haven't found this trap to be effective for squirells (as of this writing). The squirells seem to get at the bait without going into the trap. Maybe I'll need to find a different type of bait for them.

Finally, try to bring your chipmunk to a wooded area that is not too close to another residential area. You don't want them to be someone else's problem. Also, make sure the site is at least 1 mile away. Good luck.

This trap works well for the pack rats that occasionally visit us. (We have caught five so far.) The model #0745 works better than the #1025 with dual doors, since the #1025 will only "trigger" when one side of the bait pan is depressed. If the other side of the model #1025 bait pan is depressed, it will "freeze" the trap and need to be reset. I returned the #1025 and will only use the #0745. Maybe we got a bad one, but I don't want to take the chance when the model #0745 works fine.

Regarding the other person's review, perhaps they did not check to see that the door was straight when the trap was set. I have not noticed a problem with the door being unable to close when released.

Actually, this does work quite well for catching chipmunks. I had a mole and called a professional trapper, and said by the way, what about the chipmunks running around. So he caught the mole and three chipmunks with his traps, then figured he was done. I bought one of these traps for the $20 or so because I saw another chipmunk and figured I could do the trapping. So far 13 chipmunks and 2 squirrels have been caught, so this works very well.

Bait to use is salted peanuts in the shell--just toss them in the far end. Trap is a bit touchy to set-it's sensitive--but it actually is easy to set and it does work.

How does it work--something like a coat hanger wire holds up the door on one end and sticks out near the other end. The bit that sticks out is tucked inside a similar-sized wire protruding from the metal flap on the floor, and the two wires hold each other in place. A touch on the metal flap moves its wire, which then disengages from the wire holding up the door (with me so far?) which then lets the door drop. The point is that the critters are caught live, nothing grabbing them or pinching them or anything like that.

After catching something, I put the cage in a cardboard box (I think it prevents them from being too scared that a human's around), drive them several miles up the road, and release them into a woods. Cage is not as high quality as a professional trap but for $20 it's sure good enough.

Probably wouldn't have bothered with the chipmunks but last year two of them got in my furnace pipes and died, so I figured I should give them a better place to live a longer life as well as helping ensure my furnace works and has a longer life too.

In short, this thing works. If you want squirrels, a bigger cage is available, and even a larger one for raccoons, but I'd use a professional for raccoons as they are really mean and dangerous to haul around.

I bought this trap at the local hardware store and it worked fine for about 10 days. I caught 4 squirrels and 1 chipmunk all on a bit of peanut butter. The problem is with the spring clip that holds the door closed when the animal springs the trap. The spring clip broke off and the trap is now useless! I went to their website and they said to mail the trap to them and they would send me a new one but I only spent 30 dollars for the trap and shipping to HavaHart would be like 10 bucks. HavaHart told me they would also send me a new trap if I sent them my sales receipt, which of course I threw away several days before it broke!! AND no parts are for sale for this model of trap!! Seems silly to not sell a door that physically comes off if you turn the trap upside down when it isn't clipped in!!! I am now looking for another trap because the squirrels still think my deck garden is their own personal buffet! In short I liked the trap but the spring clip on the door is not a good design. It is "patented" according to their website, that person needs to go back to engineering school if that is the best they can come up with!! Either that or the specs for the metal are not being followed! My recommendation is NOT to buy this trap, it will break on you and then be useless!!!

Okay after I typed this the HavaHart folks contacted me and after a few emails were exchanged I ended up sending them the broken door and they sent me a whole new trap. I am now happily catching squirrels again! Thank you HavaHart for sticking with me thru this and standing behind your product as well.

I ordered two, one works well, the other the sheet metal was cut wrong so it would not drop the trap door perfectly to capture the animal. I had to cut the gap a 1/4 inch more. Should not have had to do it myself.
Poor Company QC. Generally these traps are very reliable for squirrels and good for chipmunks (sometimes those buggers can get out if their real small or squirrels have previously pulled on your trap door wearing it out a little. I have caught > 200 squirrels and > 15 chipmunks in the past 7-10 years. They work very well, much better than the 2 door (at each end) model with a different trade name.

Before buying this trap, I read all of the reviews. Not all were positive, with specific mention of a problem getting the trap door to fall properly and prevent any "escapees". Because there was one positive review, I decided to take a chance and order the trap. I am using it to trap red squirrels and it has worked perfectly. It is far better than my 30+ year old double door havahart. There is definitely an advantage to having the single large opening that this trap has - squirrels do not hesitate to go in. Best of all, when this door slides down after being tripped, there is no way out.

I needed a humane trap after we saw evidence of rats around our home in the suburbs and bought this one. I was a little surprised at the size of this trap when it arrived as I thought it would be larger, but the very first night we set it out we caught a rat! We used a few pieces of dry dog food with just enough peanut butter to get them to stick to the trigger plate and we've caught two rats so far. The trap is easy to set and works exactly the way it's supposed to. I'd recommend this trap, but not for anything bigger than a squirrel.